Video: Clinton: Iran’s ‘dangerous escalation’

Transcript of: Clinton: Iran’s ‘dangerous escalation’

ANN CURRY, co-host:Now to the alleged Iranian-backed plot to kill a Saudi official in
Washington, DC.Secretary of StateHillary Clinton
is calling it a, quote, "dangerous escalation in
Iran
's support for terrorism," and she sat down for an exclusive interview with
Savannah Guthrie
. Hey,
Savannah
, good morning.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE reporting:Good morning to you,
Ann.
You know, even top US officials say this plot to assassinate a diplomat at a
Washington
restaurant sounds like something that came right out of an international spy novel. But investigators say this was very real and it's made an already antagonistic relationship between the US and
Iran
that much worse.
Secretary of StateClinton
is saying
Iran
will be held accountable. Do we know that the top members of the
Iranian government
were aware of this plot?

Secretary of State HILLARY CLINTON:We think that this was conceived and directed from
Tehran
. We know that it goes to a certain level within the
Quds Force
, which is part of the Revolutionary Guard, which is the military wing of the
Iranian government
. And we know that this was in the making and there was a lot of communication between the defendants and others in
Tehran
. So we're going to let the evidence unfold. But the important point to make is that this just is in violation of international norms. It is a
state
-sponsored act of terror and the world needs to speak out strongly against it.

Sec. CLINTON:Well, I think it's a little hard to tell what was really going on, why this was given a seal of approval, why there was a go-ahead from
Tehran
. Whether within their military and their government the kinds of debates and divisions that we are now watching unfold because it's difficult to know who's actually making the decisions. Was this for political purposes? Was this just a crazy idea that got out of hand?

GUTHRIE:Do you think the Ayatollah ordered it?

Sec. CLINTON:We don't know, we don't know and I'm not going to speculate.

GUTHRIE:Well,
Tehran
, of course, denies all of this, insists
America
fabricated the entire plot in part as a way to distract from those
Occupy Wall Street
protests,
Ann.

CURRY:Meantime, she also talked about her future. You asked her about that. What did she have to say?

GUTHRIE:Yes, she did. She's made it no secret, of course, that she plans to leave her current role as secretary of
state
at the end of this term. And then we talked about all that talk in
Washington
that she could be added to the
Obama
ticket as vice president. Do you ever google yourself?

Sec. CLINTON:I don't.

GUTHRIE:If you googled...

Sec. CLINTON:I'm a little worried about that.

GUTHRIE:Yeah. If you googled yourself today, you would find suggestion that perhaps you would be vice president, that you could do -- there would be a switcheroo and that you might possibly be the vice president and
Biden
would come over as secretary of
state
. Is there any chance you would be vice president in the second term?

Sec. CLINTON:No. There is not.

GUTHRIE:Is it -- is it in the realm of possibility?

Sec. CLINTON:I do not think it's even in the realm of possibility. And in large measure because I think Vice President
Biden
has done an amazingly good job. He has taken on the burden of selling the economic plan, of traveling the country, of answering people's questions.

GUTHRIE:Has anyone ever raised the possibility with you?

Sec. CLINTON:No, no. I just -- I think it's maybe a subject for speculation on
Google
, but it's not a serious issue in the administration.

GUTHRIE:All right. So what is in her future? We're going to talk about whether she'll ever run for office again and whether she thinks her daughter
Chelsea
ever would. Our full interview airs Monday on TODAY,
Ann.

Hillary Clinton shot down speculation she could join the Obama 2012 ticket as vice president in 2012 in an exclusive interview with TODAY. Switching positions with Joe Biden, per rumors swirling around Washington, is not "in the realm of possibility,’’ the secretary of state told Savannah Guthrie.

“I do not think it's even in the realm of possibility, and in large measure because I think Vice President Biden has done an amazingly good job,’’ Clinton told Guthrie in an interview that aired partially on Thursday. “He has taken on the burden of, you know, selling the economic plan, of traveling the country, of answering people's questions.’’

The possibility of an Obama/Clinton ticket in 2012 has not even been raised to her, she said.

“It's maybe a subject for speculation on Google, but it's not a serious issue in the administration,’’ Clinton said.

Guthrie discussed a range of issues with Clinton, from the alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington to domestic affairs to whether she will run for president in 2016. The exclusive TODAY interview will air in full on Monday.

Clinton believes that the alleged plot by the Iranian government to kill a Saudi official, which she called a "dangerous escalation," came from the highest levels.

“We think that this was conceived and directed from Tehran,’’ Clinton said. “We know that it goes to a certain level within the Quds Force, which is part of the Revolutionary Guard, which is the military wing of the Iranian government. And we know that this was in the making, and there was a lot of communication between the defendants and others in Tehran.

“So we're going to let the evidence unfold. But the important point to make is that this just is in violation of international norms. It is a state-sponsored act of terror, and the world needs to speak out strongly against it.’’

Clinton would not speculate on whether the act was ordered by the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or what the motivation may have been behind the alleged plot.

“It's a little hard to tell what was really going on, why this was given a seal of approval, why there was a go-head from Tehran,’’ she said. “It's difficult to know who's actually making the decisions. Was this for political purposes? Was this just a crazy idea that got out of hand?’’